A synonym for meditation, this refers to the state of deep meditative immersion that results from different modes of Buddhist practice.
A particular realization attained by a bodhisattva on the sixth bodhisattva level. This realization arises as a result of analysis of the essential nature of phenomena (dharmas).
An eastern buddha realm where the buddha Mārapramardaka resides.
A buddha realm below our world where the buddha Master of the Ocean with Noble and Playful Super-knowledge resides.
The five psycho-physical components of personal experience: form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.
A major śrāvaka disciple and personal attendant of the Buddha Śākyamuni during the last twenty-five years of his life. He was a cousin of the Buddha (according to the Mahāvastu, he was a son of Śuklodana, one of the brothers of King Śuddhodana, which means he was a brother of Devadatta; other sources say he was a son of Amṛtodana, another brother of King Śuddhodana, which means he would have been a brother of Aniruddha).
Ānanda, having always been in the Buddha’s presence, is said to have memorized all the teachings he heard and is celebrated for having recited all the Buddha’s teachings by memory at the first council of the Buddhist saṅgha, thus preserving the teachings after the Buddha’s parinirvāṇa. The phrase “Thus did I hear at one time,” found at the beginning of the sūtras, usually stands for his recitation of the teachings. He became a patriarch after the passing of Mahākāśyapa.
See four applications of mindfulness.
Indian commentator from the late fourth– early fifth centuries; closely associated with the works of Maitreya and the Yogācāra philosophical school.
A past buddha realm where the buddha Dīptavīrya resided.
A type of nonhuman being whose precise status is subject to different views, but is included as one of the six classes of beings in the sixfold classification of realms of rebirth. In the Buddhist context, asuras are powerful beings said to be dominated by envy, ambition, and hostility. They are also known in the pre-Buddhist and pre-Vedic mythologies of India and Iran, and feature prominently in Vedic and post-Vedic Brahmanical mythology, as well as in the Buddhist tradition. In these traditions, asuras are often described as being engaged in interminable conflict with the devas (gods).
The four factors that serve as the basis for magical abilities: intention, diligence, attention, and discernment.
A bodhisattva in the retinue of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
In Buddhist literature, an epithet applied to buddhas, most often to Śākyamuni. The Sanskrit term generically means “possessing fortune,” but in specifically Buddhist contexts it implies that a buddha is in possession of the virtuous qualities and wisdom associated with complete awakening.
One of the primary deities of the Brahmanical pantheon, Brahmā occupies an important place as one of two deities (the other being Indra/Śakra) that are said to have first exhorted Śākyamuni to teach the Dharma. The particular heavens over which Brahmā rules are often some of the most sought after realms of higher rebirth in Buddhist literature. Among his epithets is “Lord of Sahā World” (Sahāṃpati).
Mindfulness, discrimination, diligence, joy, pliability, absorption, and equanimity.
A pure realm manifested by a buddha or advanced bodhisattva through the power of their great merit and aspirations.
One of the Indian preceptors who assisted in translating this text.
A bodhisattva in the retinue of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
One of the five aggregates; also counted as the sixth of the six elements.
A bodhisattva in the retinue of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
Genuine discrimination with respect to dharmas, meaning, language, and eloquence.
One of the Indian preceptors who assisted in translating this text.
In Buddhist cosmology, our sphere of existence where beings are driven primarily by the urge for sense gratification and attachment to material substance. See also “three realms.”
An incantation, spell, or mnemonic formula that distills essential points of the Dharma. It is used by practitioners as an aid to memorize and recall detailed teachings, and to attain mundane and supramundane goals. According to context, this term has also been rendered here as “recollection.”
Name of a bodhisattva great being.
A bodhisattva in the retinue of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
A former buddha in front of whom the Buddha Śākyamuni (in a past life) first formed the aspiration to awaken.
A buddha in a world called Astounding Sight and an eon in the past called Flower Origin.
A bodhisattva in the retinue of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
A bodhisattva in the retinue of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
This can refer either to what is also known as the eightfold path (’phags lam yan lag brgyad): (1) right view, (2) right intention, (3) right speech, (4) right action, (5) right livelihood, (6) effort, (7) mindfulness, and (8) meditative concentration. Or to what is also known as the eight precepts (bsnyen gnas yan lag brgyad): (1) abstaining from killing, (2) stealing, (3) sexual misconduct, (4) lying, (5) intoxication, (6) eating after noon, (7) dancing and singing, and (8) lying on an elevated bed.
Wrong view, wrong thought, wrong speech, wrong actions, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong recollection, and wrong samādhi.
A person who is eight steps away in the arc of their development from becoming an arhat (Tib. dgra bcom pa). Specifically, this term refers to one who is on the cusp of becoming a stream-enterer (Skt. śrotāpanna; Tib. rgyun du zhugs pa), and is the first and lowest stage in a list of eight stages or classes of a noble person (Skt. āryapudgala). The person at this lowest stage in the sequence is still on the path of seeing (Skt. darśanamārga; Tib. mthong lam), and then enters the path of cultivation (Skt. bhāvanāmārga; Tib. sgoms lam) upon attaining the next stage, that of a stream-enterer (stage 7). From there they progress through the remaining stages of the śrāvaka path, becoming in turn a once-returner (stages six and five), a non-returner (stages four and three), and an arhat (stages two and one). This same “eighth stage” also appears in set of ten stages (Skt. daśabhūmi; Tib. sa bcu) found in Mahāyāna sources, where it is the third step out of the ten. Not to be confused with the ten stages of the bodhisattva’s path, these ten stages mark the progress of one who sequentially follows the paths of a śrāvaka, pratyekabuddha, and then bodhisattva on their way to complete buddhahood. In this set of ten stages a person “on the eighth stage” is similarly one who is on the cusp of becoming a stream-enterer.
In the context of epistemology, it is one way of describing experience and the world in terms of eighteen elements (eye, form, and eye consciousness; ear, sound, and ear consciousness; nose, odor, and nose consciousness; tongue, taste, and tongue consciousness; body, touch, and body consciousness; mind, mental phenomena, and mind consciousness).
These also refer to the elements of the physical world, which can be enumerated as four, five, or six elements. The four elements are earth, water, fire, and air. A fifth, space, is often added. The six elements are earth, water, fire, air, space, and consciousness.
The capacity of realized beings to speak in a confident and inspiring manner.
A past buddha realm where the buddha Infinite Light resided.
Emptiness denotes the ultimate nature of reality, the total absence of inherent existence and self-identity with respect to all phenomena. According to this view, all things and events are devoid of any independent, intrinsic reality that constitutes their essence. Nothing can be said to exist independent of the complex network of factors that gives rise to its origination, nor are phenomena independent of the cognitive processes and mental constructs that make up the conventional framework within which their identity and existence are posited. When all levels of conceptualization dissolve and when all forms of dichotomizing tendencies are quelled through deliberate meditative deconstruction of conceptual elaborations, the ultimate nature of reality will finally become manifest. It is the first of the three gateways to liberation.
A monk disciple of the Buddha.
A bodhisattva in the retinue of the Buddha Śākyamuni.
A conceited, false sense of attainment. One of seven types of pride related to the spiritual path.
The qualities necessary as a method to attain the awakening of a hearer, solitary buddha, or buddha. There are thirty-seven of these: (1–4) the four applications of mindfulness: mindfulness of body, sensations, mind, and phenomena; (5–8) the four right abandonments: the intention to not do bad actions that are not done, to give up bad actions that are being done, to do good actions that have not been done, and increase the good actions that are being done; (9–12) the bases of miracles: intention, diligence, attention, and discernment; (13–17) five faculties: faith, diligence, mindfulness, absorption, and wisdom; (18–22) five strengths: an even stronger form of faith, diligence, mindfulness, absorption, and wisdom; (23–29) seven branches of awakening: correct mindfulness, correct discrimination of phenomena, correct diligence, correct joy, correct pliability, correct absorption, and correct equanimity; and (30–37) the eightfold noble path: right view, examination, speech, action, livelihood, effort, mindfulness, and absorption.
The term “faculties,” depending on the context, can refer to the five senses (sight, smell, touch, hearing, taste) plus the mental faculty, but also to spiritual “faculties,” see “five faculties.”
The four types of fearlessness possessed by all buddhas: They have full confidence that (1) they are fully awakened; (2) they have removed all defilements; (3) they have taught about the obstacles to liberation; and (4) have shown the path to liberation.
One of the five aggregates.
These are spiritual “faculties” (indriya) or capacities to be developed: faith (śraddhā), diligence (vīrya), mindfulness (smṛti), absorption (samādhi), and insight (prajña). These are included in the thirty-seven factors of awakening. See also “five strengths.”
Five impediments to meditation (bsam gtan, dhyāna): sensory desire (’dod pa la ’dun pa, kāmacchanda), ill will (gnod sems, vyāpāda), drowsiness and torpor (rmugs pa dang gnyid, styānamiddha), agitation and regret (rgod pa dang ’gyod pa, auddhatyakaukṛtya), and doubt (the tshom, vicikitsā).
Similar to the five faculties but at a further stage of development and thus cannot be shaken by adverse conditions, these are: faith (śraddhā), diligence (vīrya), mindfulness (smṛti), absorption (samādhi), and insight (prajñā).
Name of a past eon, when the buddha Dīptavīrya resided in the buddha realm Astounding Sight.
One of the five aggregates.
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